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Oklahoma State recruiting: Marcell Ateman tops the Cowboys' class

Receiver from Wylie, Texas, has always admired Dez Bryant and Justin Blackmon. On Wednesday, he'll sign with OSU in hopes of following in their footsteps.

By Gina Mizell | Published: February 5, 2013 Comment on this article

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When Ateman arrives in Stillwater, he’ll likely become roommates with an old pal in Samples. They played on the same basketball team for about four years starting in sixth grade and remained friends despite going to different high schools.

Once Ateman committed, he started nudging Samples to join him in Stillwater.

“He was always messing with me like, ‘Nah, man, I ain’t never gonna go to Oklahoma State,’ and all this," Ateman said. "I think it was just part of his plan to mess with me. He called me after he verbally committed after The Opening camp (over the summer) and just started laughing.”

With Ateman and Samples coming in — and plenty of talent returning — OSU is loaded at receiver for 2013 and beyond.

But Ateman is setting his goals high as a true freshman.

“I’m never going to say I’m going to start or I’m going to be all this,” Ateman said. “There’s already good guys there, so I’m definitely going to have to go in there and work and fight for a starting position.

“But that’s what I want to do is start as a true freshman.”

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